Palmview grinds out series win over Rowe, punches ticket to regional semis

Ivan Palacios | Staff Writer

McALLEN — Game 1 of the Class 5A DI best-of-three series between La Joya Palmview and McAllen Rowe ended in dramatic fashion Friday, with a wild pitch leading to the go-ahead run for the Lobos.

The Game 1 thriller was just the tip of the iceberg, with the two teams battling on the diamond for nearly nine hours before the Lobos finally managed to grind out a 2-1 series win over the Warriors on Saturday at McAllen Rowe’s baseball field.

“I can’t describe today,” La Joya Palmview head coach Manuel Garcia said. “The only thing I see is those young men out there. That’s the only description I can give. As a team, we came back and kept on fighting after a big loss in Game 2 earlier today. Then to be able to come out and go 13 innings in that third game and get the win. It was amazing.”

Saturday’s double-header began at 3 p.m., with the Warriors trailing the Lobos in the series 1-0 after Friday’s loss. The host team answered the call during Game 2, taking down the Lobos 7-1 to force a decisive final contest. Game 3 of the series was slated to begin 30 minutes after the completion of Game 2, with the two teams retaking the field at 6 p.m. to begin the contest.

McAllen Rowe’s Isais Ledezma scores a run against La Joya Palmview in a Region IV-5A DI Semifinal Playoff Game on Saturday at McAllen Rowe High School. Photo by Mario Magallon – Special to RGVSports.com.

Game 3 of the series proved reminiscent of Friday’s thriller, with the two teams trading blows through the first seven innings.

The Lobos drew first blood during the bottom of the third, with Jaxzel Cantu bringing in a pair of runs to give his team a 2-0 lead. The Warriors tied the game during the top of the fourth, with Ivan Garza bringing one run in and Isaias Ledezma scoring the second run on a wild pitch to make it 2-2.

Palmview retook the lead during the bottom of the sixth, with Cantu bringing in his third run of the game to make it 3-2, but the Warriors came right back to tie it on a wild pitch once again, sending the game into extra innings.

A defensive battle ensued in extra innings, with neither team able to gain an advantage in the win-or-go-home contest. That is until the bottom of the 13th when the Lobos bats’ roared to life.

La Joya Palmview outfielder makes a catch against McAllen Rowe in a Region IV-5A DI Semifinal Playoff Game on Saturday at McAllen Rowe High School. Photo by Mario Magallon – Special to RGVSports.com.

A line drive to right field by freshman Javier Martinez set up the go-ahead runs, advancing one runner to third while getting himself to second.

“We knew he (Martinez) was going to come up big,” Garcia said. “He had been hitting the ball hard. We just needed one to get through and it did.”

More dramatics ensued after Martinez’s big hit, with the lights going off in the stadium, delaying the already long game and putting the Lobos’ momentum at risk.

Play resumed after a nearly 20 minute delay, with the Warriors coming out and intentionally walking Joseph Martinez to give the Lobos bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the 13th.

The Lobos capitalized on the opportunity, with Javier Cordova bringing in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to give Palmview the 4-3 victory in 13 innings. The RBI was the first and only of the series for Cordova.

“In that moment I knew I had to sacrifice no matter what they threw at me,” Cordova said. “I got two strikes real quick and just had to protect. Our motto is BTF, which means believes, trust and faith. Everyone of these guys had trust and believed in me. They had faith I’d come out and succeed. That’s what happened. I saw that fast ball outside and I knew I had to drive it to try and win this game as a team.”

The loss ends the Warriors’ season with a 23-10 overall record, including a 12-4 mark in district and a bi-district playoff victory.

Meanwhile, the Lobos advance to the Region IV-5A DI semifinals for the second time in three years. They’ll take on the New Braunfels Unicorns at a date, time and location to be determined.

“Our mindset going into the next round is the same as today, to just keep battling and fighting,” Cordova said. “If somebody doesn’t do the right thing, we know our next person behind them will come out and do what they need to do to succeed. That’s our approach going into Round 3. We’re just going to keep battling until the last outs.”

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